


Heaven's Light

by Beckers522



Series: Ineffable Husbands Playlist [4]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: First Meetings, Love, M/M, Pining, References to by Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Scene: Garden of Eden (Good Omens), Snake Crowley (Good Omens), Songfic, heaven's light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 03:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20717378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beckers522/pseuds/Beckers522
Summary: The Serpent Crawly sits in Eden, unheard and unseen, waiting for his moment to arrive. As he watches, the demon notices something about the two humans that call this garden home. There is something about them and the way they interact with each other - something strange, something new, something wonderful. Crawly finds that he longs for someone to look at him the way they look at each other, longs to remember just what this feeling between the humans is and why it seems so painfully familiar.





	Heaven's Light

**Author's Note:**

> Songfic for "Heaven's Light" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
> 
> I've been listening to this version on repeat for the last few hours while writing this. Enjoy!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-U9UsiTGRM

_So many times out there_   
_ I've watched the happy pair  
Of lovers walking in the night_

The moon hung high overhead, bright and full. Day and night had been created a while ago, but the concept of time was still slow to catch on. Morning turned to noon turned to evening turned to midnight and with each revolution, the moon remained as full as ever, casting its blue-ish glow down upon the sleeping garden below.

In the trees, tucked away, coiled around one of the branches lay the Serpent Crawly. He’d been in the garden for several days now. Impossible to tell exactly how many since he didn’t care enough to keep track, but he’d been here long enough/

Go up there and make some trouble. That’s what he’d been told. No details on what sort of trouble or how he was supposed to go about making it. Just go up there and wait for our signal. You’ll know what to do after that.

The garden was _ boring. _ Absolutely nothing happened here. The animals ate and slept and slept and ate. Even the humans - The Almighty’s _ wonderful _ creations couldn’t seem to be interested in doing much of anything. They meandered about day after day, eating fruits from the trees and giving animals names and not much of anything else that he could see.

Granted, Crawly spent a lot of his time dozing in the sun. There was a chance he’d missed something important during the daytime, but he doubted it. The humans just weren’t all that interesting. They were simple creatures. Deep down, he had hoped they might turn out to be something like him. Curious, strong-willed. Not really evil, but not entirely good either. 

He’d been sorely disappointed.

Still, the demon watched them from afar. There was something about them, in the way they interacted with each other, that caught his attention. The pair were almost always together, smiling and laughing as they explored the world around them. What fascinated him the most was everything they lacked. There was no anger between them. No disgust, no annoyance, no fear. None of the emotions that had become so commonplace in Hell hung around them here. It was truly a paradise.

Giggling sounded at the edge of his hearing. In all honesty, Crawly hadn’t ever heard the sound before he’d found his way to Eden. At least, not that he remembered. Still, the first night he had sat in the treetops and watched the garden below, he had heard the high pitched trilling and his mind had immediately supplied the word used to describe it. Briefly, he wondered if he had known it...before. He quickly decided he didn’t care.

With unblinking golden eyes, the serpent gazed down into the moonlit garden. To figures emerged from the trees, walking hand in hand. They leaned into each other, shoulders brushing, bright smiles on their faces.

Crawly found he could not look away.

_ They had a kind of glow around them  
_ _ It almost looked like Heaven's light _

It wasn’t that they were all that interesting to look at. Compared to creatures like zebras or butterflies or even that strange looking combination of a beaver and a duck that had yet to be named, these creatures were awkward. Plain. Absolutely nothing special.

Except. _ Except _ this thing that was between them. It wasn’t just tonight, he’d seen it around them each night as they frolicked through the garden. The words seemed to escape him as he watched. The way they smiled at each other, gazed at each other with glistening brown eyes. There was something _ about _ them. A warm glow that could not be seen by human eyes, nor by ones of the serpentine kind. Still, Crawly could feel it - a sort of aura about them, surrounding them, filling the air above and below them with...this _ something _.

A distant memory swam around in the back of his mind - warm and soft and always elusive. No matter what he tried, it was always just out of his reach. Still the serpent watched, hoping if he gazed on them just a moment longer, his empty heart would finally remember what this wonderful thing reminded him so much of.

And it was _ wonderful _. It was precious and captivating and oh so beautiful. He’d never seen anything like it before.

Except, he had. The demon just didn’t remember. He couldn’t remember. It was forbidden.

This thing between them almost looked like Heaven’s light.

_ I knew I'd never know _   
_ That warm and loving glow _   
_ Though I might wish with all my might _   
_ No face as hideous as my face _ _   
Was ever meant for Heaven's light_

He _ wanted _ that, the demon realized as he gazed down at the pair, night after night after night. He wanted what they had. He wanted someone to look at him with adoration in their eyes, a bright smile on their face. The place where his heart should be _ ached _with loneliness, a feeling he was all too familiar with.

Everything good and bright in his life had burned up with him as he’d tumbled through the sky, ultimately landing in a burning pile of sulfur. Crawly had been an angel once, he knew that much to be true, even if he didn’t remember Heaven. His first memories were freefalling through the sky, his stomach in his throat, an overwhelming fire in his chest as his heart was burned from his body, leaving only a scorched blackness behind.

While he may not remember what it was like to live in Heaven, to laugh or to love, Crawly remembered what losing those sensations felt like. He remembered falling. It would be impossible to forget.

Silently, he slithered down from the tree to follow the pair of humans. One muscle after the next wrapped itself around the thick trunk, bark digging into his skin, bringing him closer and closer to the grassy ground below.

Had they been moving at full speed, there would have been no way for him to keep up without transforming. Luckily for him, the humans seemed to be in no hurry. They walked along at a leisurely pace, talking to each other about the different stars in the sky, trying to point out patterns and shapes.

If it had been physically possible, Crawly would have rolled his eyes. How ridiculously conceited to think that the stars had been created in specific places just to form _ pretty pictures _ for them to look at. These humans had no idea how complicated creating entire galaxies were. The care and precision that went into each star, each planet, each moon and asteroid. 

Come to think of it, Crawly didn’t know either, did he? The serpent looked up at the dazzling lights above them and they felt so impossibly familiar in that moment that he thought perhaps he could know. Maybe. Another lifetime ago.

A splash sounded nearby and the serpent looked over, startled. He’d been so busy staring up at the night sky that he had forgotten to keep his eye on the humans. Apparently, while he’d been otherwise occupied, they had decided to take a dip in the nearby lake.

The serpent came to a halt at the water’s edge, watching them glide around in the crystal clear water. Here, under the starlight, their forms seemed to shimmer. As they laughed and played and smiled and held each other close, they really did have a physical glow about them. It was so achingly familiar, the demon felt as if he might cry, if that were possible.

Once again, Crawly was struck with a longing so strong it would have taken his breath away, had he bothered to start breathing in the first place. How did he find this? What did he need to do to have this for himself? The demon would do anything to find another being to cherish him the way these two cherished each other. Absolutely _ anything _.

Looking down, the serpent caught a glimpse of his reflection in the gentle ripples that traveled outward from the humans towards the shoreline. Amber eyes, black and red scales, a forked tongue and sharp, deadly fangs. He was hideous - dark, evil, _ wrong. _No one would ever want someone like him. He wasn’t meant to have what the humans had. Not for that glorious, wonderful, soft glow that they were awash in whenever they were together. He was a demon, for Go- for Sat - for Someone’s sake! Demons weren’t meant to have beautiful things.

For the first time, Crawly turned away, unable to bear the pain at his core any longer.

_ But suddenly an angel has smiled at me _ _   
_ _ And touched my face without a trace of fright _

The ‘making trouble’ business came sooner than he would have liked. Something about a tree and an apple and _ temptation _ and before he knew it, Crawly found himself standing on the garden wall as the humans ran from Eden, conversing with the most peculiar angel he’d ever met. Not that he had many such meetings to compare.

He’d half expected the angel to chase him off the moment he’d transformed, but instead, the creature had simply started talking to him. He’d been a bit put off, at first, but after a while the angel relaxed. They talked about the humans, speculated on the nature of the Great Plan, and even shared a few hesitant smiles. Crawly had even made the angel laugh once.

And then the rain came. Without a second thought, the angel had lifted his wing to shield the demon from the oncoming storm. As the droplets of water fell, all Crawly could do was stare at this beautiful, wondrous creature. This creature who had spoken to him, given away his God-given sword to help humanity, lifted a wing to shield a demon from the rain. This creature who was currently staring up at the sky as droplets of water struck his face one after the other.

He could have miracled them away. Could have left to find shelter, but he didn’t. The angel stayed by his side, gazing up at this marvelous _ first _ rainfall, delighting in it’s cool, refreshing essence.

When the storm subsided, the angel turned to him and offered Crawly a gentle smile. The demon smiled back, a sincere ‘thank you’ caught in his throat. Perhaps he should save it for another time. If, in fact, he _ had _ done the right thing in giving the humans knowledge, it was best not to push his luck. A demon could get into a lot of trouble for doing the right thing.

“Oh!” the angel exclaimed suddenly as he took a step back and droplets rained down from his outstretched wing, “so sorry, my dear boy.” Slowly, Crawly watched as the creature extended his hand and brushed a single droplet of water from the demon’s face.

There was no fear in the angel’s bright blue eyes. No hesitation as his soft fingers brushed up against Crawly’s cheek. They shared another smile and then the angel was off. To where, the demon had no idea. 

_ I dare to dream that he _   
_ Might even care for me _   
_ And as I ring the bells tonight _   
_ My cold dark tower seems so bright _ _   
I swear it must be Heaven's Light_

Crawly stood on that wall for some time after, hand resting gently over the part of him the angel had touched. Something had come alive in him. A _ feeling _ had crept into the space in his chest where his heart should be and buried itself deep within. He was not familiar with this feeling. It was not loss or anger, not frustration or longing. This was so much sweeter than anything he had ever remembered feeling before.

No one had ever shown such kindness to him before. Did he dare to dream that the angel might care for him? Was it possible that he wasn’t as hideous as he’d once believed? With time, could he find that special connection with this being who had showed no fear, who had given him companionship and shelter when he’d needed it most?

This feeling, welling up inside him, bursting past the walls where his heart once stood, was overwhelming. It was terrifying and all-consuming and the greatest mystery of his life. He had no word to describe it, no way to find out what it was, but Crawly found that it didn’t matter. He would give absolutely anything to feel like this each and every day for the rest of his eternal life.

Suddenly, the world around him seemed much brighter. The sky was bluer, the air crisper, scents sharper. He could hear birds singing in the treetops and their music filled him with a joy he’d never known before. A sudden urge overcame him, telling him to take to the skies, to seek out this angel once more. Crawly wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. At least enough to learn the angel’s name.

Something held him back. Now was not the time. He didn’t want to scare the angel off. Best to wait a while and see what happened. Crawly was sure to run into him eventually. It wasn’t like the world was that big.

So he remained on the outer wall of Eden, watching the angel’s form slowly fading away, a bright smile on his face. A smile that, until today, had never existed before. He still didn’t have a way to describe the glow that had shone between Adam and Eve - the brilliance that he had felt standing in this very spot with the angel beside him, but the demon was starting to have an idea. An inkling of a memory of what this might be.

Surely, it must be Heaven’s light. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I absolutely love love love to read comments, so feel free to leave them if you see fit! Hope you all liked this one. I really enjoyed writing it :)


End file.
